Interview With Pepper Basham – Part II

I was was given the privilege to interview Pepper Basham, the debut author of the new release, The Thorn Bearer . I bombarded her with questions so I decided to split it up into two parts. Click HERE to see the first part.

Where did you get the idea/inspiration for The Thorn Bearer?

Well, I started writing it about 10 years ago. I’d started a story about Ashleigh, but I really didn’t know where she was going until I read an article about the Lusitania…somehow the tragedy of the Lusitania gave an external view of the internal struggle in Ashleigh’s life – then everything began to click into place. The books been rewritten 3 times and edited well over 20…so what you’ve read is a looonnnnggg and tedious piece of work.

Oooh! Very interesting!

Do you have any favorite quotes from The Thorn Bearer?

I love the first line of chapter 1: “There is a distinct difference between marrying a man you do not love, and falling in love with a man you cannot marry.”

And this one: “She doesn’t want you to love her as if nothing’s happened. She wants you to grow to love her through what’s happened.”

Here’s another: “She stared at the senseless doctor who spoke of God as a lover and knelt before her in her dying sister’s bedchamber. No doubt, he was crazy – but certainly crazy had never been in finer company.”

I love this one too because I’m such a romance-nerd: “His grin tipped to lethal proportions and her heartbeat stuttered in reply.”

Those are all amazing quotes. There are so many good ones!

What was your favorite part of writing The Thorn Bearer?How about your least favorite?

Favorite? The story discovery. There were times while writing that I would go back and read a passage and think, “Wow, Lord, that had to come from you, because I KNOW I couldn’t have written anything so beautiful without your help.” Least favorite? Reading the manuscript now and finding too many errors or weak-writing. Ugh!

The Lord works in amazing ways!!

Tell us a little about your writing process.

It’s a whole lot of nook-and-cranny writing. My life is pretty busy without even adding writing into the mix. I work full-time as a pediatric speech-language pathologist and I’m a mom of five, so writing takes place in small increments of time or late in the evening. As far as method? Well, I usually have a good idea of the beginning and ending of a story early on. I have a tendency to write out of sequence and I’m notorious for bouncing back-and-forth between two stories at the same time. I LOVE creating strong, memorable characters.

I will never know how you authors manage to juggle so many things on top of your writing!

Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?

Keep writing and try to enjoy the journey. I’ve been writing ever since I was a little girl and I started pursuing publication 11 years ago. Now, it isn’t so long for some people and longer for others, but the main focus should be on writing. I think it’s good to spend time studying craft and learning from mentors, but the real hallmark of a writer…is writing.

As an aspiring author, I find these tips very helpful! Thank you!

And that’s all for now, folks! I hoped you enjoyed this interview as much as I did!!

Pepper, Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU! For doing this interview with me! I absolutely loved interviewing you and learning even more about you!

Check out my five star review of The Thorn Bearer here that includes links of where to buy it and the various ways to connect with the lovely Pepper Basham!

Because you were faithful enough until the end, you get to find out my secretly hidden surprise (that will be publicly posted this weekend) before everybody else! Click here to see what my surprise is!)